Chapter 2 | Beer
History of Beer
Beers made from cereal grains were known long before history recorded the fact, but these were vastly different brews from today’s product. The oldest document known to a man, a clay tablet inscribed in Babylonia around 6000 B.C, depicts the preparation of beer for sacrificial purposes. By 4000, the Babylonians had made sixteen different types of beer from barley, wheat, and honey. For almost 3 thousand years, beer was important to the daily life and religion of ancient Egypt. It was in common use in China about 2300 B.C., and the ancient Incas used a corn-based beer for centuries before America was discovered.
In pre-medieval Europe, beer and beer-like beverages (like barley wine) became deeply ingrained into the culture, both in religion and in everyday life.
The word beer may have multiple origins: the Latin word bibere means “to drink” and the Saxon word baere meaning “barley”.
The Romans introduced wine to the Saxons, who quickly adopted its use and it was drunk thereafter on all great occasions but ale and meth (or mead, made from honey and water) remained the national beverages of the ancient people at all times. Until the Middle Ages, the brewing of beer was left to the women. In medieval times the brewing shifted from the family to the brew-houses of the monasteries, convents, and villages. Brewing was believed to be a very important part of monastery life and the staples of diet were bread and beer. In middle age Europe beer trade became well established- and firmly in the hands of the clergy, as this class was the only tangible representation of society at that time. Christian clergymen were the wholesalers of beer and the Jews were the retailers, because the Christian clergymen were forbidden to make a profit.
As for early Celtic brews, the beer of the Britons was ale-like in nature; the British preference for ale continues to the present.. The prosperity and growth continued through the 17th and into the 18th century when porter was introduced (by Harwood in 1722).
In America the first brewery was built in New Amsterdam in 1612. Most of the famous figures of colonial New England (Adams, Jefferson, Madison, G. Washington) began or participated in brewing ventures, but the industry did not flourish there as barley could not be raised in that climate, and a brew house was regarded as an essential part of a homestead.
About 1820, German immigrants began to arrive in large numbers and settled in ethnic “colonies”. Breweries sprang by the hundreds and many flourished. At that time, the beers were mostly ales and porter.
The new chill-brewed lager first appeared in the United States in Philadelphia in 1840, manufactured by a man named John Wagner. The lager enjoyed immediate public acceptance. The conquest of the American market by this pale lager (more appropriately called Dortmunder or pilsner) beer is so complete that the number of true ales still brewed in America is quite small; there are no Weiss beers, few dark beers, and even less porter.
Historical Facts on Selected Sorts of Beer
Bock Lager
Many of these beers’ names or labels feature some reference to a goat. This is a play on words in that the word Bock also refers to a male goat in the German language. Many brewers choose to craft these beers for consumption in the spring (often called Maibock) or winter, when their warmth can be fully appreciated.
Doppelbocks
Doppelbocks were first brewed by the Paulaner monks in Munich. At the time, it was intended to be consumed as “liquid bread” during Lent. Most Bavarian examples end in the suffix-ator, in deference to the first commercial example which was named Salvator (savior) by the Paulaner brewers.
Dunkel
Dunkel is the original style of lager, serving as the forerunner to the pale lagers of today. They originated in and around Bavaria, and are widely brewed both there and around the world. This is often what the average consumer is referring to when they think of dark beer.
Imperial Stouts
Imperial Stouts originate from recipes that British brewers tailored to the tastes of the Imperial Russian court. Imperial stout was almost extinct until recreated by the British brewer Samuel Smith in the early 1980s. The style has now been embraced by US craft brewers as a winter specialty.
India Pale Ales
India Pale Ales were originally brewed by British brewers in the 19th Century, when British troops and colonizers depended upon supplies of beer shipped from England. Standard ales did not survive the journey, hence brewers developed high gravity, highly hopped ales that survived shipment in casks to their largest market, India. This style, probably not anywhere near as bitter as it was when destined for India, continues to be brewed in a toned down manner in the UK and is undergoing a mini-revival at present. However, US craft brewers have claimed the style as their own, and often brew them with assertive Pacific Northwestern hop varieties that give such examples a hugely aromatic hop accent.
Oatmeal Stouts
Oatmeal stouts were originally brewed by the British in the earlier part of this century, when stouts were thought of as a nutritious part of an everyday diet. After having fallen from favor, the style was revived by the Yorkshire brewer, Samuel Smith, in 1980. They tend to be highly flavorful with a velvety texture and sometimes a hint of sweetness. Oatmeal stouts are now a very popular staple of the US craft brewing scene.
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest started in Munich as a public party for the royal wedding of King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxony on October 12, 1811. The now famous beer tents were introduced in 1896, and these continue to be the focal point of the festival to this day. In modern times the Munich festival runs during the last two weeks of September and is an epic beer-drinking affair. Around 30% of the annual production of Munichs breweries is consumed during these two weeks. This is a prodigious feat considering that the good folk of Munich drink an awful lot of beer during the other 50 weeks of the year.
Pilsner
Pilsner is a style that we now associate with pale, well-hopped lagers with crisp carbonation. The name comes from the town of Pilsen in the Czech Republic where this style of beer was first produced early in the 19th century. The popularity of the beer earned it the name “pilsner beer” and the rest is history. Pilsner Urquell, the leading beer in Pilsen, is still one of the most popular Czech beer exports, and a fine benchmark of the style.
The history of Czech beer, or at least Czech beer styles, does not end here. In the latter part of the 19th century a certain American brewery owner named Adolphus Busch was traveling in Bohemia when he tasted and was impressed by the local style of beer in a town named Ceskà Budejovice. The beer, better known elsewhere in Europe by the German version of the name of the town, Budweis, was none other than Budweiser Budvar, the original Czech “Bud.” It was known in Bohemia as the “Beer of Kings” because King Ferdinand of Bohemia had made it the beer of choice in his royal court in the 16th century. Mr. Busch liked the name and slogan so much that he used variations of both when he returned to his own brewing enterprise in St. Louis. “Budweiser: King of Beers” (the brand and slogan) now belongs, in the U.S. market, to the Missouri-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch. U.S. consumers, unfortunately, cannot sample the Czech version (so it is not reviewed here) without visiting one of a number of European countries where it is still very popular, and can be legally sold under its own name.
Today, as well as being a major beer exporter, the Czechs still produce the finest hops for pilsner-style lager beers. These hops are imported in volume by large U.S. brewers, even if they are not generally used quite so liberally in the brewing process as by their Czech counterparts.
Porter
Being centuries old style, there are differences of opinion with regard to what a “true” porter was actually like and there can be wide variations from one brewer’s interpretation to the next. Roasted malt should provide the flavoring character, rather than roasted barley as is used with stouts. Stronger, darker versions and lighter more delicate versions are equally valid manifestations of the style. The influence of hops can often be notable in the richer craft brewed examples of the style. Although Porter was the drink of the masses of the 1700s London, it is not a significant factor in the British market today, despite the production of a few outstanding English examples. In the US it is enjoying new found popularity among US craft brewers and many fine US examples are produced.
Stout Porter
Stout Porter was originally an English specifically London dark beer style that was the drink of the masses long before lagers were conceived or modern ales were fashionable. In the heyday of Porter in London, during the eighteenth century, the term “Stout” was used to denote the strongest and weightiest beers in a brewers’ portfolio. The same relationship still holds true to this day, with porters generally being lighter in body and color than stouts. Stouts and Porters are enormously popular among US craft brewers and virtually all brewpubs and regional microbrewers produce one or both as year round brews.
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